Devouring The Dead (Book 1)

by Russ Watts

  The bus came to an abrupt halt with metal being torn and twisted, as the church wall collapsed on it. Tom heard screeching metal and glass shattering before he was knocked out. The bus’ occupants were thrown from their seats as the bus stopped dead. The zombies from the park staggered into the church grounds, scraping past headstones and open burial pits toward the now silent bus.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The air was full of dust and Caterina coughed violently. Being seated at the back of the bus meant she had been saved from the impact of the crash, the brunt of it being borne by the front of the bus. Christina had made her lie down, and so she had not fallen too hard when they’d crashed. When Caterina had finished barking out the dirt, she gingerly got up. It was lucky she hadn’t fallen too hard. She rubbed her belly and instinctively knew the baby was fine. She spat out a mouthful of grime. Christina was lying on the floor and Caterina shook her awake.

  “Christina! Christina!” She came to and got to her knees slowly.

  “Cat, what happened? Is everyone okay?”

  “I don’t know.” Caterina helped Christina up and she ruffled her hair, tiny shards of glass falling to the floor. The front of the bus was clouded in dust and smoke. Christina could smell burning and knew that they had to get out quickly. Between them, they helped the others. Jackson and Jessica had been knocked out, but were not seriously hurt. Just cuts and scrapes that would heal. Benzo had a deep gash on his arm and was wrapping his jumper around it to stem the bleeding. Reggie was helping him.

  “It’s all right, Reggie, I got it, thanks. You should take care of yourself, you look pretty bad,” said Benzo.

  Reggie looked at his reflection in a window - there was a large slice of glass perched on the seat beside him. His face was cut and it looked like someone had taken a cheese grater to his forehead. He felt light headed and dizzy.

  “I’m okay, let’s just get everyone off before they come,” he said. He bent down to Rosa who was unconscious. She had escaped the flying glass and looked like she was sound asleep. Reggie was reminded of his younger sister; she looked so innocent when she slept. Reggie shook Rosa, but she wouldn’t wake. There was a large bump on the side of her face. He scooped her up.

  “The side doors are blocked, we’ll have to get out through the back window,” he said carrying Rosa to the back of the bus. Christina and Jackson helped him get Rosa out. Caterina clambered out with them, pleased to be off the bus. She sank to her knees and dug her fingers into the mud. The smell of the grass and flowers took her mind away from reality. The trauma subsided and she revelled in the natural smell of the earth, the cool peat in her fingers. She took in measured breaths and forcibly calmed herself down; she had to be calm, for her baby’s sake.

  “Where’s Tom?” said Jessica.

  “And Brad. He was at the front with Don,” said Benzo. Jessica and Benzo clambered back into the bus. They had to tread carefully. A lot of bricks and masonry had fallen into the front area of the bus. They saw Angel first; she was slumped over the seat in front of her.

  “Angel?” Benzo gently pulled her back and recoiled in horror when he saw her. She had been garrotted by a slither of glass that was still embedded in her neck. It had almost sliced her head off and her body fell back against the side of the bus.

  “Oh, God,” said Jessica looking at the dead woman. Angel’s eyes were locked open in fright, forever staring ahead into death. They left her in her seat.

  “There’s nothing we can do for her now,” said Benzo. Then he heard it.

  “Hey, Jessica, listen, do you hear that?” he said. There was a faint groaning sound and then movement. A sole brick tumbled from the pile in front of them and came to rest at Jessica’s feet. A couple more bricks moved and Benzo saw a hand.

  “Tom!”

  They scrabbled over the rubble, throwing bricks aside as they dug Tom out. His face was badly cut and one eye had swelled up so much it was closed.

  “Thanks,” was all Tom could manage as they dragged him free. His shirt was ripped and blood stained.

  “Can you manage him?” Benzo asked Jessica, propping Tom up on her shoulders. “I’ve got to find Brad.” Benzo returned to scouring the rubble, whilst Jessica helped Tom out of the bus. Jackson reached up and took him from her as they came through the rear window.

  “Come on, Benzo, leave it,” shouted Jessica. Smoke was beginning to drift into the bus and it was becoming difficult to see; breathing was harder, and she could hear Benzo’s rasping, coughing. The smell of burning was increasing too.

  “Benzo, come on, man, we can’t stick around. They’re coming.” Jackson helped Jessica down and then clambered back into the bus to find Benzo, who was still pulling aside bricks, looking for Brad. Jackson could see the jumper wrapped around Benzo’s arm, bright red, soaking up blood as it continued to escape Benzo’s arteries.

  “What about Brad? What about Don?” said Benzo.

  Jackson looked at the twisted metal where Don had been sat. The chair was full of rubble and a stone gargoyle sat grinning in his place, as if it was going to drive the bus away into the very depths of hell. There were blood stains splattered across the dashboard and Jackson noticed that sharp protrusions of glass around the windscreen were dripping with fresh warm blood. Jackson guessed Don had not been wearing a seatbelt and was currently somewhere beneath the bus and the church.

  “Benzo, we’re leaving. Now.” Jackson’s eyes were watering from the smoke and he grabbed a weakening Benzo. They returned to the rear of the bus and Benzo almost fell to the ground, he was so weak. Jackson collapsed to the muddy earth.

  “Where’s Brad?” said Tom.

  Jackson was curled up, coughing uncontrollably. “Couldn’t...find him...don’t know...”

  “And Don? Angel? Where are they?” Rosa had awoken on the ground and looking around the group, was dismayed to find her friends were absent. She felt very alone. “Why aren’t you getting them out? They need our help.”

  “Sorry, but Angel’s gone,” said Jessica.

  “Don, too,” said Jackson still coughing and rubbing his eyes.

  Rosa burst into tears. Caterina bent down and put a hand on her shoulder, but Rosa shrugged her away. The throbbing on her head seemed to boom around her from all sides. Don and Angel were dead. How could they be gone? After surviving for so long, they had gone outside only to be taken so quickly. Rosa couldn’t believe it.

  “What the hell happened?” said Jessica. “Why did we crash?”

  “Search me. I saw Brad struggling with Don, but I couldn’t see what was going on,” said Jackson. “It was so fast, I’m just glad we’re okay.”

  Tom said nothing.

  Christina looked at Jackson. “Not all of us are okay.”

  “Shit, they’re getting close, what are we going to do now?” said Reggie. He pointed with a trembling finger across the graveyard at five zombies entering the church grounds. They were walking in the tracks the bus had made with more following behind them.

  “Inside the church,” said Tom.

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” said Christina as Tom started looking for the church entrance. “We don’t want to get trapped again.”

  “You got a better idea, then let’s have it,” said Jackson joining Tom.

  They had crashed into the vestibule and the bus was deeply embedded into the wall. There was no way into the church here and Tom was looking for the main doors.

  “Wait,” said Rosa as others began following, “what about Don? Are you sure he’s dead? He might be okay? He might need our help!”

  Reggie was the only one with her now, and he helped her to her feet. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s too late. If there was any way of helping your friends, Jackson would’ve found it. I’m sorry.”

  Sniffing, Rosa wiped her eyes. She bit her quivering lip. “We should’ve stayed in the pub. If we’d waited for help to come, then Don and Angel would still be alive. I’m such an idiot. It was me that cajoled Don into going. Oh, God.�
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  Reggie put his arm around her and with one eye monitoring the zombies in the near distance, began ushering her toward the church.

  “There’s no point in talking like that, love. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s not your fault. Anyway, if you hadn’t come, then we’d be dead by now. We should be thanking you. Look, we need to get inside. It’s not safe out here.”

  He led her to the others. Tom had found the church doors and was holding the huge oak door open as the others filed inside. As Rosa went past him, Reggie suddenly dropped to his knees and began coughing. He spat blood out onto the moss covered slate floor.

  “You all right, Reggie?” asked Tom lifting him up.

  “Yeah, I just need to rest. I don’t feel so good. I think when the bus crashed, I hit my chest or something, it really hurts.”

  “All right, mate, just take it easy. Let’s get in here and take a look at you.”

  Reggie passed under the arched frame of the door and Tom followed him into the quiet church, heaving the heavy door shut behind him. It shut with a clang that reverberated around the whole church. He dropped the iron latch and instantly felt safer. There was a solid barrier between them and the outside world now. He turned and looked up into the church. The sunlight was sending kaleidoscopic images through the stained glass windows, illuminating the church in an iridescent light. The tall roof meant it was cool inside, despite the warm sun outside, and Tom felt safer now than he had at any time over the last few days.

  Looking around, he saw gnarled stone monsters up high, looking down on them. Gargoyles were crouching in dark corners, perched above columns, watching the intruders. There were leather-bound bibles lining the rows of pews and kneeling cushions, embroidered with religious images of old. Tom took a couple of steps forward and his footsteps echoed around the vaulted ceiling. Tom appreciated the stone walls and high windows; they meant safety. The dead couldn’t get at them whilst they were here, he was sure of that.

  Jackson, Christina, and Caterina, were sat on a pew in front of Tom. A few rows behind, he saw Benzo, lying down, his feet sticking out, whilst Jessica stood over him. She was wrapping his arm in a tight swathe, using a scarf she had found in the church entrance to wrap his arm and stem the bleeding.

  Rosa had seated herself on a chair close to the others, but private enough that they wouldn’t hear her tears. Above her, hung a huge tapestry of the last supper and around her, were wreaths and huge bouquets of flowers: Roses, Carnations, and Asiatic Lilies. They leant the air a sweet smell and Tom left her alone to grieve. There was nothing he could say or do to console her. He knew Don must be dead, there was no way he could’ve survived such an impact. He looked around but couldn’t see Angel. He hadn’t noticed outside that she was missing, but it struck him now that she was not here. Benzo would’ve brought her in if he could have. Tom said a quick prayer for her and Don, then he saw Reggie at the altar. He was kneeling down, hands clasped in front of him. Tom wanted to go and check on Reggie, he didn’t look well, but the man seemed to need some alone time, too. Besides, Tom was feeling dizzy and his head was pounding. Reggie would have to wait.

  Tom walked over to the row of wooden pews and sat down. He rolled up his shirt sleeves and examined the cuts on his arms; they were only superficial. His whole body ached, but he knew he had been lucky; he could be with Angel and Don now. Where was Brad though? Was he buried beneath the rubble?

  “Hey, Tom, how are you doing?” Jackson appeared in front of Tom suddenly. “We need to make sure we’re secure. Fancy doing a circuit with me? I don’t really want to ask anyone else, they’re in a bad way, you know.”

  Tom nodded and rolled his shirt sleeves back down. “Let’s do it.”

  The doors they had entered the church through, were shut tight. Nothing was coming through those doors in a hurry, and Tom knew they would hear them before anything got in. They walked around the outer wall of the church checking for any doors or openings.

  When they were out of sight, Caterina began talking to Christina. “I don’t know if I trust Tom anymore. What if it’s like at work? If we get surrounded, there’ll be no way out.”

  “I don’t think that’s likely. Think about why all those dead people came to the city - some sort of natural instinct to go where’s familiar? Thousands and thousands of people head into the city every day to work. No one goes to church anymore.” Christina felt as though she could sleep for a week. Somehow, she had taken on the mother role for Caterina, which she didn’t actually mind, but being a crutch for someone else meant she needed some support of her own. She felt drained.

  “Maybe that’s the problem,” said Caterina.

  “Look, I think we’re safe in here for now honey,” said Christina. “Jackson’s gone to look around and you don’t need to worry about Tom. He’s doing just fine.”

  “But what about..?”

  “Caterina, shush. The best thing you can do right now is relax. Look at the size of that door, look at these walls. We’re probably safer now, than we have been for a long time. Please, Cat, just relax, okay?”

  “Okay, yeah, I know I should. I just worry a lot, I...” Caterina started crying. “I miss my mum. I just want my mum and I don’t know where she is, I don’t even know if she’s alive or...”

  Christina pulled Caterina to her and let her cry. It was strange, but Christina felt good. She felt sad for Caterina; with everything going on and being pregnant, at the same time, the stress was taking its toll. It had been a long time since anyone had cried on her shoulder though. She had caught Linda crying at work a few months ago. She had gone into the toilet and heard her in one of the cubicles. When Linda had come out, she’d explained to Christina that her husband had left her. What had been Christina’s advice? She had told Linda to pull herself together, or something ridiculous. She had told her that if she was too upset to work, she would have to go home and use annual leave. Now she thought about it, she could still picture Linda leaving the bathroom with such hatred in her eyes. She had looked at Linda leaving at the time and thought how pathetic she was. Linda was probably dead now. Christina felt like crying. She had turned that woman away when she needed help. It had always been work first, relationships second.

  Christina pulled Caterina closer and hugged her. “It’s going to be all right, honey, it’s going to be all right,” she whispered in her ear.

  Benzo was sat up and holding his arm out.

  “I’ve got a blinding headache,” he said. “My arm doesn’t really hurt anymore though. You’ve done a good job. Thanks, Jess.”

  “Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do. You should really get it seen to, you probably need stitches.” Jessica was sat beside Benzo trying to ignore the crying she could hear from both Caterina and Rosa.

  “I’ll be okay. Don’t think there’s much point calling for an ambulance, eh? Hey, there’s a thought, you still got your phone? I don’t know what happened to mine. We should see if there’s any signal.”

  Jessica fumbled through her pockets and pulled out a white tissue. “No, I must have left it behind somewhere. Shit. I’ll ask the others, see if anyone else has got one.”

  “Yeah, but maybe wait a bit, yeah? By the sounds of it, they’ve got other things on their minds right now.”

  Jessica listened to the crying and bit her lip. She was on the brink, but refused to succumb to the relief it would bring. Everyone saw a pretty girl and assumed she would act like a princess. She was stronger than that though, stronger than most girls she knew. No, she would not cry, not now, not in front of anyone.

  “I should take a look at Reggie, he’s pretty cut up,” she said turning to look at him. He was still kneeling, praying.

  Benzo lowered his aching arm. “Damn, I don’t know what happened on the bus back there. Did you see? All I heard was Brad and Don going at it and all of a sudden, I was flying through the bloody air.”

  “I don’t know what caused the crash, but I expect Brad had something to do with it. I
guess it doesn’t matter now. Don and Angel are dead and we’re not. It might sound selfish, but I’m fucking glad to be alive.”

  Benzo was surprised at her forthrightness. He had half expected her to crumble like Caterina. She was tougher than he thought.

  “Me too, me too,” said Benzo. “You know, there are seven of us left now. Do you know how many people worked in our office? Over a hundred. With those odds, how many people do you think are alive in this whole city? Jeez, I hope my family got out.”

  “Where do they live? They may have.”

  “Brixton. It’s a hard place to live at the best of times, but with the streets full of zombies too? My mum, my dad...I can’t imagine them gone, you know? It doesn’t seem real, all of this. I still picture them at home watching telly.”

  “It seems very real to me,” said Jessica curling her hair behind her ears. “When I think of my family, I picture them shuffling round our house, dead. I don’t for one second, kid myself that they’re alive. Parker’s dead. My friend, Brie, she’s dead, too.” An image of Brie’s distorted dead face flashed through Jessica’s mind.

  They sat in silence for a while, accompanied by the soft sound of sobbing. Benzo was unsure how to respond to Jessica and decided the safest option was to say nothing at all. His head was spinning and he needed the rest. After a short while, Jessica stood up.

  “I’m going to find Tom and Jackson, see what’s going on,” she announced. “Maybe see if there’s some water too. I’m starting to get a head ache as well.”

  She walked slowly through the church, admiring the colourful windows. The only other time she could remember being in a church was for her grandmother’s funeral. Apart from that, there was no need to go. Her family wasn’t religious and she didn’t believe in God, so it felt odd being in a church now.